Inexpensive Dinners for Small and Large Families, $5.00 and Under

I shop at Save-A-Lot grocery store(similar to Aldi's), and sometimes I like to search for blog posts mentioning the store. Last month, I found a five dollar coupon with a Save-A-Lot search. Saving Your Cents  has recently taken advantage of the .59 cents a pound chicken parts deal. Sometimes they are chicken quarters, sometimes chicken thighs, but they are usually for sale for either .79 cents or .59 cents a pound. She boiled hers for shredded chicken and broth like I did, and managed to make four tasty dinners for four people with other purchases totaling $15.00($5.00 coupon used).

I've never figured out exactly how much we spend per meal, but tonight we had a one dish meal of shredded chicken, rice, black eyed beans, and a can of  Margaret Holmes Tomatoes, Okra, and Corn. I estimate this fed all four of us(2 adults and two children) for less than $2.00. I only used a cup of dry rice from a 10 pound bag($7.99), a small portion(about two cups) of  a cooked bag of black eyed peas that was about $1.70, two handfuls of shredded chicken(.59 cents pound), and a .79 cent can of highly seasoned Southern style veggies.

And we've got enough shredded chicken from the ten pound bag of .59 cents a pound chicken and cooked black eyed peas(one bag $1.70) for about eight meals. Pinto beans cost much less, but we like the black eyed peas.

For larger families, Stephanie, a homeschool blogger had a post in April 2009 mentioning Save-A-Lot chicken. She was able to put together a Cheesy Chicken(we cook this too) meal for an estimated $4.46 for 7-10 people! If you cook your own beans, you could bring the cost down some more.

Printable Save-A-Lot coupons here.